International brand communication

« meeting their expectations.

The result was that South Africa had a product totally different and unique from other countries.

Indeed, the marketing department for South Africa’s image decided to combine ecotourism with sport, cultural heritage and leisure.

Thanks to help from the government (increase in the budget), and the creation of new emerging businesses, tourists asked for cultural destinations like the Robben Island Prison.

Until 2003, tourism was continuously growing and South Africa was considered as the fastest growing destination in the world despite the economic and political issues.

Another opportunity is that the economy in South Africa is growing.

Consequently, it is still seen as a destination for tourism and also for financial investments.

Furthermore, South Africa is seen as a model for other countries in a lot of way.

However, apart from opportunities, BSA has to face potential threats. Since 1975, Africa had been one of the losers in world tourism.

Africa had accounted for 3.1% of the world’s tourism receipts compared to 5.3% for East Asia and the Pacific.

In 1996, this gap was bigger: 19.1% for East Asia and Pacific and only 1.9% for Africa.

The main causes for such a result were war, instability and loss of infrastructure.

A threat is that South Africa competes with all the other countries in the world for attracting tourism and foreign investments.

Furthermore, South Africa has used a lot of different communication media in the past few years that have created confusion in people’s mind and could therefore jeopardize the brand’s image.

South Africa is a country which has a high crime level, has a loss in public transport and service level.

This might again discourage potential tourists to come and visit the country.. »